Tool mount



A. INWOOD June 23, 1970 TOOL MOUNT z Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 12, 19681\I E\TOR ALVIN INWOOD 25 ATTORNEY A. INWOOD June 23, 1970 TOOL MOUNT 2Sheets-$heet 2 Filed Nov. 12, 1968 III/III ATTORNEY United States Patent3,516,585 TOOL MOUNT Alvin Inwood, Fairfield, Conn., assignor to CoastalAbrasive and Tool Company, Inc., Trumbull,

Conn., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 12, 1968, Ser. No. 774,637Int. Cl. A45f /02 US. Cl. 224-5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Thisinvention relates to the art of tool mounts and more particularly to atool mount preferably formed from plastic material which serves as thecontainer in which the tool is sold and which can be carried on the beltof a user, which mount includes an elongated supporting plate havingabutment means extending outwardly from the mid-portion of the plateadjacent its lower end against which a portion of the tool to be carriedby the mount may abut, with retaining means extending transversely overthe lower end of the tool, said mount including a removableidentification card.

As conducive to an understanding of the invention, it is to be notedthat it is well known in the art to have a mount for a tool such as apair of pliers that is to be carried on the belt of the user. The mountand the associated tool are generally sold as separate items and it isconsequently necessary for a package containing the tool itself to belabeled with the size and type of the tool.

It is accordingly among the objects of the invention to provide a toolmount that may readily be fabricated at relatively low cost frominexpensive materials such as molded plastic and which will permit readyreplacement of a card as an integral part of the mount so that the typeand size of the tool accommodated therein will be readily available tofacilitate merchandising as a single item of the tool and the mount inwhich it is carried.

According to the invention, these objects are accomplished by thearrangement and combination of elements hereinafter described and moreparticularly described in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which are shown one or more of variouspossible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention designedfor use as a mount for a pair of pliers; FIG. 2 is a front elevationalview of the tool mount;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary front elevational view of another embodiment ofthe invention, and

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 66 of FIG. 5.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 of the drawings, the mount 10 which isillustratively designed for use with a pair of pliers P, is preferablyformed from molded plastic and comprises a substantially rectangularback plate 11 which has a central aperture 12 adjacent its upper curvededge 13, midway between the side edges 14 of the plate, said aperture 12serving to receive a mounting hook H on which the mount may be supportedfor selling purposes.

The plate 11 has two vertical slots 15 adjacent its upper edge near eachof the side edges 14 thereof, which slots are for the purpose ofpermitting the belt of a user to be passed therethrough so that the toolP carried by the mount is readily available for use.

Extending outwardly at right angles from each of the 3,516,585 PatentedJune 23, 1970 side edges of the plate 11 is a side wall or flange 16which illustratively extends the entire length of each of said sideedges 14. As is shown in FIG. 1, the upper portion 17 of each of theside walls 16 is of reduced width and the lower end of such reducedportion 17 tapers outwardly as at 18 to the lower portion 19 of saidside wall 16.

Extending outwardly from said plate 11 below the center line thereof isan abutment stud 21 which illustratively is triangular in cross sectionas shown, having its apex directed upwardly.

Extending transversely across the plate 11 and secured to the outeredges of the side walls 16 is a supporting strip 22, illustrativelyL-shaped in cross section, which also illustratively extends over thetop of the abutment 21. In addition, a similar strip 23 extendstransversely across the plate 11 at its lower edge and is also securedat its ends to the outer edges of said side walls 16.

A rectangular card 24 on which suitable indicia may be printed, isreleasably supported in the rectangular area defined between theparallel strips 22 and 23 and the included portions of the side walls16.

To this end, the inner edge of each of the side walls 16 adjacent thelower portion 19 thereof is conformed to define a shoulder 25 to supportthe associated edge of the card 24. This may be accomplished byconnecting a strip 19 to the outer surface of each of the lower portions19, the outer edge of said strip extending beyond the outer edge of eachof the side wall portions 19.

The card is of vertical dimension as to exceed the distance between theadjacent inner edges 26 of the parallel strips 22, 23. The thickness ofeach of the lips 22', 23 of each strip is such that the lip will rest onthe shoulders 25. Consequently, when the card is flexed, the endsthereof may be moved beneath the inner edges 26 of the strips 22, 23 asshown in FIG. 4. Thus, the card will be securely, yet releasablyretained in position, the lower lip 23' preventing downward movement ofthe card.

In use of the unit, the pliersis placed on the backplate 11 and moveddownwardly so that the post or stud will abut against the junction 1 ofthe legs L of the pliers in which position such legs will be restrainedby the cross strips 22, 23, with the free ends of the legs L extendingoutwardly beyond the lower strip 23. The card will have printed thereonsuitable indicia including the type and size of tool that isaccommodated in the mount.

The mount above described can be used for sales in hardware stores,supermarkets and the like by merely hanging the same in accordance withmodern merchandising methods which involves the use of a pin board orrack which has a plurality of outstanding hooks H on which variousarticles to be sold are mounted. Thus, by reason of the central aperture12, the unit can readily be supported by such hook and displayed tocustomers, the indicia on the card 24 indicating to the customer thetype and size tool carried by the mount. The customer purchasing thetool utilizes the same mount by means of which the tool is displaced forsale, in actual use of the tool in the field. Thus, the customer needmerely insert his belt in conventional manner through the two verticalslots 15 in the plate 11 so that the tool can be conveniently carriedfrom place to place.

Thus, one and the same unit is utilized both for selling purpose andactual use in the field.

It is of course within the scope of the invention to utilize the deviceabove described with other types of tools, for instance a screwdriver Dmay also be carried by a similar device according to the invention.Thus, as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, in such application, instead of thepost 21, the backplate would carry say, a series of longitudinallyspaced transversely aligned pins 31 which could extend along the centerline of the backplate between the transverse strips 22 and 23 so thatthe 3 shaft 32 of the screwdriver D could be inserted through thechannel defined by the pins with the handle 33 of the screwdriver Dbeing supported by the uppermost pair of pins 31, the cross stripspreventing outward movement of the screwdriver from the unit.

As many changes could be made in the above constructions, and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A tool mount comprising an elongated substantially rectangularbackplate having a pair of spaced parallel longitudinal slotstherethrough adjacent its upper end, spaced parallel retaining means atthe lower portion of said backplate releasably to retain a rectangularcard in fixed position with said card extending parallel to and beingspaced from the opposed surface of said backplate, and supporting meansassociated with said backplate to restrain downward movement of a toolpositioned between the card and the backplate yet permitting free upwardmovement of said tool.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which said backplate has amounting aperture therethrough adjacent its upper edge midway betweenthe side edges of said backplate.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which said backplate has apair of parallel side walls extending outwardly from the side edgesthereof at right angles to said backplate, a pair of spaced parallelstrips secured at their ends to the outer edges of said side wallsadjacent its lower portion and extending transversely across thebackplate, said strips and the included portions of said side wallsdefining a rectangular area in which said card is releasablyaccommodated.

4. The combination set forth in claim 3 in which the free edge of eachof the included portions of said side Walls between said parallel stripsis conformed to define a longitudinal shoulder to receive the side edgesof said card, said card being of vertical dimension greater than thedistance between the opposed edges of said parallel strips whereby theends of said card may be located beneath said strips.

5. The combination set forth in claim 4 in which at least the lowermoststrip has a portion thereof L-shaped in cross section defining a lip atthe edge of the strip remote from its inner edge.

6. The combination set forth in claim 5 in which the inner surface ofsaid lip lies in a plane that is substantially the same as the plane ofsaid longitudinal shoulders.

7. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which said supporting meanscomprises a post extending outwardly from the backplate midway betweenthe side edges thereof.

8. The combination set forth in claim 7 in which said post is alignedwith the uppermost transverse strip.

9. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which said supporting meanscomprises a pair of spaced parallel studs extending outwardly from saidbackplate on each side respectively of a central line extendinglongitudinally of said backplate.

10. The combination set forth in claim 9 in which a plurality of pairsof spaced parallel studs are provided.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1930 Jungemann. 12/1953 LaMantia.

US. Cl. X.R. 206-78

